


Qui-Gon Jinn & Ashanti Vende:  Clubbin'

by wolfiefics



Series: The Ashante Vende Stories [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, padawans will be padawans, what teen doesn't want to go clubbing?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 09:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfiefics/pseuds/wolfiefics
Summary: Teenage Qui-Gon and Mace Windu go out on the town, only to discover their masters know all the latest dance moves and trends...the hard way.





	Qui-Gon Jinn & Ashanti Vende:  Clubbin'

**Author's Note:**

> Written sometime before the prequels ended, probably right after The Phantom Menace.

Qui-Gon Jinn's brown head peeked around the corner and looked one direction and then the other. "Psst, Qui-Gon! Over here!" Qui-Gon made a mad dash down the hallway and then turned the corner where his new friend, Mace Windu, was waiting. The other boy, about Qui-Gon's age or a year older, had dark skin and deep brown eyes that were always mischievous.

"You realize that if Master Ashanti catches me out of my quarters, I'm dead," Qui-Gon told his friend with a grin.

"From your expression, you aren't worried about it, so stop whining," countered Mace with an equally obnoxious look. "This is going to be so plen."

"Plen?"

"Yeah, I heard one of the older padawans use it. Some new word for being cool or something." Mace looked at his friend. "So, you ready? You aren't going in your tunic are you?" Mace seemed aghast at the thought.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "Go to the natural science classroom. I hid my clothes and stuff under the holovid screen. Ashanti's nosy sometimes, so I had to hide it out of her sphere of influence."

Mace wrinkled his nose at being that closely watched and the two boys went off.

Ashanti Vende's head poked around the corner once they had gotten a ways away. "Well, you were right," she told the master behind her with a broad grin. "They're about to get into hot water."

Cave Shrell sighed, rubbing his right temple tiredly. "Mace is constantly getting into trouble. He's got a level head, but his curiosity is going to get him killed one day."

Ashanti nodded, tail curling in amusement. "It's a male thing," she told her old friend. He smacked her for her insolent statement. Ashanti was infamous within the Jedi Order for being in one troublesome situation after another.

"Shall we follow?" asked Cave, his eyes unseeing. His species was born blind and made the best Jedi knights because of their uncanny ability to tap into the Force so strongly that they could use the Force as their sight, giving them an advantage in uniting with the Force that other knights normally did not have. A small veil covered his sightless eyes but he skulked behind Ashanti and their respective padawan learners as if he could see every step he took.

Ashanti stopped and Cave stopped as well. "They are going to one of the classrooms." Ashanti's voice was totally perplexed. "Natural science, I think. I know Qui-Gon likes the class, but yuck! After hours?"

The two masters slipped into the classroom next to the one the two apprentices had snuck into. Through a crack in the connecting door, Ashanti peered in to figure out what was going on now. "You don't think it's a prank on Tutor Chilo, do you?" asked Cave worriedly. Tutor Chilo had been terrorizing students for three hundred years. His temper, not being a Jedi and having no hold on his emotions, was infamous and caused many a student, apprentice and master to shudder. Neither Cave nor Ashanti wanted to explain why their apprentices were playing a prank on Tutor Chilo.

Ashanti privately thought it took guts to do so. Cave thought they were mentally unbalanced. As it turned out, neither should have worried. Qui-Gon merely changed clothes, removing his tunic and pants and putting on one of the latest fashions sweeping the Republic.

Ashanti had ducked when her padawan had removed his pants. Though she had seen Qui-Gon naked any number of times on missions, somehow this was...different. Intrusive.

"What are they doing? All I can sense is that they are excited about something. And guilty." Cave hissed his words in her ear, grasping her tail in his concern.

Ashanti winced as he accidentally, and unknowingly, pulled it. "I think they are going out somewhere. They are changing clothes. Well," she amended, "Qui-Gon is. Mace is already ready. You might want to check his chambers for non-Jedi attire, Cave."

Cave grunted and sighed. "I'm going to kill him. I'm sorry, Ashanti. Mace has corrupted Qui-Gon."

"Not much," Ashanti muttered. "I have an idea. Come on!" She drug him away from their spy hole and followed their padawans to the public transport terminal just outside the Temple.

"Rayjac's please," Mace said to the transport driver and the vehicle whisked them away.

"Rayjac's!" exclaimed Cave when the transport was safely away. "That's pretty..um..upbeat for them, isn't it?"

Ashanti smiled a toothy smile. "But it's perfect for what I have in mind. Let's head to the tailoring department. Surely they can whip something up for us? Let's give our padawans a taste of what a Jedi's nightlife is really like!"

Cave smiled, having always been game to be in the middle of any of Ashanti's pranks when they were students together at the Temple. "Let's do it," he agreed.

* * *

Mace and Qui-Gon tried not to look obviously out of place and managed to a small degree. They paid the cover price at the door of the hottest nightclub on the alpha side of Coruscant, as the western hemisphere was called, and entered. Bright lights strobed their eyes and loud, pounding music shook them to the soles of their shoes.  
"Got your credits?" shouted Mace to his friend and Qui-Gon nodded. He and Mace had been scrimping and saving for this outing. They were eighteen now and legally able to enter nightclubs and enjoy themselves without legal repercussions. Repercussions from the Council and their masters was a whole other ball of wax but they figured it'd be worth the reprimand just this once.

Qui-Gon and Mace shouldered their way to the bar and ordered drinks. The drinks showed up, they paid and headed for an empty table near the dance floor. The room was a crush of people of all races, dancing, drinking, talking, laughing and flirting. Mace's foot tapped to the underlying beat he could just barely discern over the bass and Qui-Gon was looking around with undisguised interest at the female talent.

"Gemma's going to kill you," Mace laughed as Qui-Gon winked at a particularly fetching Twi'lek girl who sauntered by. She gave him a smile and an appraising look.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No, she won't. We have an understanding. We can't be together all the time and there will be instances where we'll be attracted to someone else, so we opened up our relationship. Right now she's dating this musician from Gala III she met at some vocal conference."

Mace looked impressed. "Really? So you love Gemma, but are free to love and be with other girls?" Mace considered this as Qui-Gon nodded. "That's plen." Qui-Gon nodded again. Actually, no matter how 'plen' it was, it still kinda hurt deep in his gut, but it had been his suggestion and Gemma had reluctantly agreed. They knew it was going to happen, so they might as well have an understanding about such things.

And besides, that musician was nice and Gemma seemed fond of him, but Qui-Gon knew she loved him.

Mace waved a hand in front of his friend's face, trying to attract his attention. Qui-Gon looked at him, shaking the dreamy look off his face. "I'm gonna go ask that girl over there to dance. It doesn't look like she's with anyone. Hold the fort, okay?"

Qui-Gon raised his glass to his friend's nerve and watched as Mace made his way through the crush to a human girl six tables away. He laughed as his friend gave a charming smile and gestured at the dance floor. The girl smiled shyly and nodded. Soon the two of them were gyrating to the beat and laughing.

"Hello, I've never seen you around here before." Qui-Gon turned to see the Twi'lek he'd winked at leaning into him.

He gave a smile. "Never been here before. This isn't my usual hangout. My friend wanted to come and I must say, not bad." It was the truth, sort of, Qui-Gon reasoned.

"May I?" she pointed a slim pale blue finger to Mace's vacant seat. Qui-Gon pulled it out for her in a gentlemanly fashion and she smiled. "Thank you. Don't get that treatment often. It's nice."

Qui-Gon smiled, privately thanking Ashanti for insisting he learn the niceties of etiquette. "A woman should always be treated like a lady," he quoted his master's often used phrase when teaching him manners and politeness.

The Twi'lek laughed a throaty laugh and waved to the waitress. "A refill of what he's got and a Londarian Twinkle for me, please." The waitress smiled and went to get their order. Soon Qui-Gon and the Twi'lek, who said her name was Ha'nna, were deep in flirtatious conversation.

* * *

Ashanti paid her cover and sauntered in. It had been a long time since she'd treated herself to a night on the town. Since taking Qui-Gon as her padawan learner actually. Cave followed her, paying his cover and they wandered over to the bar. Ashanti's tail was spiraling in beat and Cave's smile was attracting a lot of female attention.

Both looked spectacular and heads turned as they passed. Murmurs and speculations followed them of people trying to guess who they were. Some thought they might be holovid stars, others performers visiting Coruscant. One suggestion whirled around the room that they were talent scouts, looking for live bands and such for tours. The band in the corner playing the loud music heard that rumor and put their whole beings into their songs.

Ashanti, very aware of what was being said, inwardly grinned. This was fun! She'd forgotten how fun it could be to forget one was a Jedi knight for an evening and let her hair down. After poring over holos of various fashions she decided on a tight little number that emphasized her assets. The purple jumpsuit had strategic patterns cut out in rather risque spots and her hair was loose and streak with the purple. Her eyes, teal in color and wide in design, was temporarily dyed purple to match. The overall effect was purple, and brash.

Cave, always a handsome devil in Ashanti's book, was looking elegant yet fun in his suit. With a sharp but classy cut jacket and vest and a high neck tie that fell down his torso in a waterfall-like style and pants that had a shiny sheen to them, Cave looked dashing.

The two together made a brassy pair that got many admiring and envious looks.

Ashanti ordered drinks and the two stood at the bar, sipping their cocktails. "Mace is on the dance floor with a rather attractive woman to his mind." Since Cave couldn't really see the girl, he was going by his apprentice's impression of her.

"I see him. Qui-Gon's flirting with a Twi'lek at a table by the dance floor. How long has it been since you've been dancing?" Ashanti made the statement casually, but Cave could feel the excitement building inside of her.

"A bit," he admitted, "but we shouldn't have trouble causing a scene."

"Not right now. Let's do some flirting, have ourselves a good time too. Schmooze, as Qui-Gon says. I see a guy just begging to be flirted with. Pardon." Ashanti vanished from his side and Cave chuckled.

His mind brushed the mind of a female a few chairs down and he smiled in her direction. Soon the two were talking and laughing, with her making some rather obvious suggestions on being free later that evening after the club closed.

Cave forgot how alive one felt like this. An apprentice dampened one's social life a bit, he realized, so he poured on the charm and let himself go.

* * *

Qui-Gon stopped in mid-sentence and frowned. That felt like...Ashanti. He looked around. It couldn't be! How would she know? Qui-Gon had purposefully closed their link momentarily, telling her earlier that evening that he wasn't feeling well and didn't want her to feel his illness. She had accepted the story with a wink and shaking her finger in his face, warning him about stressing over studies.

"Qui-Gon?" Ha'nna looked around too. "Is there something wrong?"

Qui-Gon jerked his attention back to her. She was a little shallow and a lot ditzy but that was okay. She was fun to be with. Her silliness reminded him that he was only eighteen and needed to relax sometimes. Maybe Mace and his other friend Fleph Kewic were right. He was too serious sometimes.

"No," he told her with a laugh. "I just thought I saw someone I knew walk by, but I was wrong."

"Oh," Ha'nna said slyly. "You want to dance?"

The two rose from the table and joined Mace with his new female friend on the dance floor. Mace hadn't stop dancing for three long songs and looked like he was having the time of his life. "Hey, Qui-Gon, meet Shela!"

"Ha'nna, this is Mace." Qui-Gon returned the introduction and the foursome resumed their dancing, with the two guys mimicking the moves around them and then improvising, which was the way it was done.

Ashanti, from her location next to the Corellian ambassador's little brother, whom she knew quite well for years, watched with some pride and consternation at her padawan's dance skills. Where had he learned to do that?

The dancing turned suggestive, with a lot of hip grinding and grins, but Ashanti stayed put, mostly because Bail Semm had a good grip on her tail.

"Calm down, Ashanti, he's not causing any trouble. He's just having a good time. Stop worrying and start flirting." Semm's blue eyes were twinkling with mischief when Ashanti turned back to him.

They were old friends from when Ashanti had been Semm's escort to Coruscant some fifteen years earlier. Semm knew of Ashanti's protective nature and knew of her deep motherly affection for her apprentice, but he had to admit, she could smother him if it unchecked.

"I know," sighed Ashanti. "It seems like only yesterday he was twelve and so unsure of himself. Now look at him. That Twi'lek's gonna be one happy camper if things continue."

"Is he experienced?" asked Semm, watching the foursome dance.

Ashanti blushed, something that rarely happened with her and Semm was startled. "Uh, yeah," she mumbled.

Semm began to laugh uproariously, attracting quite a few stares. That the mysterious woman was entertaining one of the club's most well-known regulars caused some stirrings.

"Felt it through that bond, did you?" Ashanti's face browned some more, her normal bronze skin tone going as dark as Mace Windu's. "That had to be mortifying."

"I blocked him quickly, but not quick enough. He got some instruction that night, and a few other nights. He's a healthy human male, and human males that age are infamous for their raging hormones," Ashanti explained. Semm merely grinned at her. "You're going to give me hell for this for the rest of my life, aren't you, Semm." She sounded resigned.

"Of course," he said, his lips brushing her pointed elf-like ear. "Isn't that what friends are for?"

* * *

Cave had about six women surrounding him, and two guys of questionable sexual intentions, helping him keep the females at a status quo. Cave, having no restrictions or unfavorable morals against same sex flirtations, flirted with each sex equally.

"Let's dance," urged one of the women and the group converged on the dance floor, immediately falling into the gyrations of the latest dance steps. Cave was in the center of the group and was hard to see.

Semm nudged Ashanti as she launched into another diatribe on the silliness of men and pointed at Cave, whom they could see in the center of an admiring group from their high vantage point. "Looks like Cave has managed to hit the floor. How about we do the same? I think it's time you two shook up your apprentices."

Ashanti looked down at where Mace and Qui-Gon. The two young men had traded dance partners and hadn't noticed Mace's master only a few feet away. She smiled and Semm had to smile too. He knew what that meant.

Semm had been attracted to Ashanti for some time now, but understood her reasons from entering a relationship. They occasionally spent time together casually, but they had not since Ashanti took an apprentice. Her time was spent elsewhere now, on more important concerns to her, and he understood that. He didn't mind, but he savored every moment with the flighty Jedi next to him.

She was a whirlwind, a thrillride that he hoped would never end, but when it did, he was usually mentally, and sometime physically, exhausted. It was worth it though. Ashanti was unlike any woman he had ever known, and his repertoire was extensive.

"I agree. It's time to show off my new outfit some more." Semm privately thought the outfit showed off more of her but wisely kept his thoughts to himself. Nothing was going to happen tonight, which was as it should be. Ashanti had a padawan learner to teach a lesson to and Semm was happy to provide any help he could.

They stepped onto the dance floor and melded together. Cave caught sense of Ashanti with her friend, Bail Semm of Corellia, and inwardly chuckled. Everyone knew Semm was a womanizer and was suave to the hilt. Cave wished he could see the look on Qui-Gon's face when he saw Ashanti steaming it up with Semm. Sensing the boy's reaction through the Force would be equally satisfying though.

* * *

Ha'nna flirted with Mace as Shela turned her attention to Qui-Gon. After switching dance partners, things had gotten out of control. Mace seemed to be hitting it off better with the Twi'lek and visions of Shela after some heavy lovemaking was leaving Qui-Gon dizzy at the thought. Both girls seemed eager for the attention.

Qui-Gon leaned in for a kiss, which deepened as they danced, body against body. Mace didn't seem to mind, as the Twi'lek's long head tentacles were wrapped around his neck. Qui-Gon again got the niggling feeling that Ashanti was nearby but brushed it off again as his imagination. He and Mace were celebrating, dammit, and he was going to play it to the hilt.

Mace's hands did some wandering and he was whispering rather suggestive phrases in Ha'nna's ear when the crowd next to him parted and there was his master. Mace stopped dancing on the spot, totally in shock. The crowd merged again, but every other beat, Mace could see his master situated between a male human in front and a female of a race Mace didn't recognize behind him. They were gyrating to the band's beat and his master looked like he was having a great time with both dancers.

Mace suddenly felt ill.

Qui-Gon and Shela stopped their tonsil search and looked at Mace. "What?" asked Qui-Gon, his unease back full force. Mace continued to stare in shock at his master. Qui-Gon looked where Mace's attention was riveted and his jaw dropped. "Is that...?" He couldn't finish the question.

Mace grabbed Ha'nna's hand and beelined to the nearest empty table. "Oh my stars," he said, head banging the table repeatedly in distress.

Ha'nna stopped his head from banging again. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes in pain. "We're Jedi apprentices. We snuck out of the Jedi Temple to celebrate our birthdays, since we've finally gotten time together. It seems his master has decided on a party night too." Qui-Gon nodded in Cave's direction and the girls turned.

"Are you going to get in trouble?" asked Shela, slipping her hand onto Qui-Gon's knee possessively.

"Probably," the two apprentices said in unison.

The four sat there, blatantly watching Cave and his hangers-on. Mace's demeanor went from his normal outrageous self totally silent. Only an occasional whisper from Ha'nna got a reaction. Finally he turned to Qui-Gon. "Well, at least Ashanti's not..." His voice faded. "Oh no," he squeaked in a high voice that spelled trouble.

A sense of doom washed over Qui-Gon. "She's here, isn't she?"

Qui-Gon looked over his shoulder and his face went white. "Make this nightmare end," he asked no one in particular.

Ashanti had her head thrown back and was laughing at something a well dressed Corellian was saying. She was literally plastered to him in some erotic dance that neither Jedi had ever seen before. It was obvious that both dancers were familiar with it, for they were causing a stir around them. The Corellian dipped Ashanti low to the floor, her long auburn hair swishing in eddies on the sparkling tile. The outfit, in her favorite shade of bright purple, looked painted on, with cutouts right above her bust, and the tummy, both hip sides and a slash down the back legs, giving the one peice pants suit a flair at the bottom.

Qui-Gon gulped. In her Jedi tunic and robe, his master's obvious feminine features were well-hidden and not obvious. Now, they were _very_ obvious, to everyone, Qui-Gon included. With a sudden flash of insight, Qui-Gon saw a healthy female in her prime, strikingly beautiful and totally confident. Any man's dream of the ideal woman.

And the Corellian had his hands all over her.

Qui-Gon saw red, then purple and then various shades as his temper skyrocketed. Mace felt his friend's extreme agitation through the Force and swallowed. 'Uh-oh,' he thought. 'Here's where we are grounded until knighthood and probably beyond.'

"Excuse me." Qui-Gon stood up, his chair falling behind him from the sudden movement. His blue eyes flashed blue flame as he made his way through the crowd. Pretending total ignorance of her identity, Qui-Gon smoothly interrupted his master and her partner, staring at him and ignoring her. "Pardon me, but you two are phenomenal. Could you trade partners with me so she can teach me those moves? My own partner and I are willing if you are."

Ashanti traded glances with Semm and then they both shrugged. She took Qui-Gon's hand, smiling because he hadn't looked in her in the face yet. She quickly refound the beat and began the steps she had known since she had been Qui-Gon's age, oh a good hundred and some odd years ago.

Semm bowed over Shela's hand and lead her to the floor. Mace sat there as if made of stone and Ha'nna kept an eye on Cave for him.

Qui-Gon was a quick learner, she had to admit. He caught on to the steps with ease and soon they were dancing just as she and Semm had been doing not long before. A tug of recklessness set in and Ashanti began playing it up big time. Qui-Gon still hadn't looked her in the eye and she was determined to remedy that.

She pulled his face down to hers and gave him a big, flirty smile. "You learn fast, human," she purred, blinking her eyes.

Qui-Gon stared. This couldn't be Ashanti. This woman's eyes were purple. Ashanti's were a really pretty shade of teal blue that Qui-Gon absolutely adored. Something in her manner, though, told him that this was Ashanti all right.

Or was it? Her species, though not a people that normally left their homeplanet of Maagolon, were known for their flighty dispositions and reckless behavior. This very well could not be Ashanti, but some one resembling her. Titainiens were not unheard of on Coruscant after all.

Ashanti felt Qui-Gon's confusion and struggling doubts with some triumph. She wrapped a leg around his waist and he twirled several times around as dictated by the dance. He stopped twirling and she leaned to his ear. "Nice move, Padawan, but watch the guy behind you. I almost knocked him in the head with my shoe."

Qui-Gon dropped her and she landed flat on her butt. She didn't mind though. The look on his face was totally worth it. "It is you!" he accused. She shrugged. "What are you doing here? This is hardly becoming of a knight of your stature. Or his, for that matter!" Qui-Gon pointed to Cave, who was deeply involved with the couple he was sandwiched between.

Mace saw Qui-Gon drop Ashanti after she'd murmured something in his ear. Mace looked over at his master and dropped his head to the table. His master was rubbing suggestively against the guy behind him. He knew that Jedi did not discriminate by gender, but to Mace, having sexual relations with a male was just disgusting. It never occurred to him that his master might have differing opinions.

Qui-Gon plopped in his chair after ranting at Ashanti, leaving the Titainien female on the dance floor. She stalked after him, a sly grin on her face. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black, Padawan?" She emphasized the last word, making it clear he had no business questioning her whereabouts or activities.

Mace just stared at her dumbly. He then looked at his master, who was still continuing his dancing pattern with the other man. "My master has a boyfriend." Mace couldn't say anything else.

Ashanti looked over at Cave and burst into laughter. "That's his first padawan!" Mace had never met his master's other apprentices, nor knew what they looked like, and was horrified. "Damn, they are good!" Ashanti tacked on for Mace's discomfort.

Qui-Gon groaned. "You guys followed us, didn't you?" he demanded hotly. "We were celebrating our birthdays." The last statement was meant as a defense but came out a whine.

Ashanti ignored him, still watching Cave. "Damn, maybe I should take lessons from Cave!" she muttered to herself, but was overheard by both padawans and their partners. Semm was now standing behind Ashanti, having stopped his dancing with the attractive Shela when Qui-Gon stalked from the dance floor.

"Not bad, but we still looked better," Semm chuckled, bending down to whisper in her ear.

"Get your hands off my master!" Qui-Gon jerked Semm's hand off Ashanti's shoulder where it lain casually.

Both Semm and Ashanti looked at Qui-Gon. Semm's expression was one of amusement. Ashanti's was blazing fire of warning and a promise of punishment. "It's okay, Qui-Gon Jinn. My name is Bail Semm. Ashanti and I go way back. We're friends, so there's no problem."

"Not," Ashanti snapped peevishly, disturbed by Qui-Gon's quick surge of jealousy, "that you need to worry about it."

Qui-Gon subsided from his ranting and instead settled on scowling. Ashanti ignored him, grinning up at Semm instead. "I think it's time we got all of you back to the Temple, and these lovely ladies home. They've had quite an evening." Semm winked at the human and Twi'lek females, who flushed mildly and looked at each other helplessly. They couldn't deny it so they remained silent.

Cave detached himself from his group and wandered over. "I take it the point has been sufficiently made, Mace?" he asked his apprentice casually.

"Yes, Master, never again will I come to this club, knowing what I know now." Mace seemed fervent.

Semm snorted in suppressed laughter. "Hello, Cave," he said jovially and the two men shook hands. Mace looked at Qui-Gon, who returned the look. Both of them were thinking the same thing.

We are so dead.

* * *

The girls were taken home by Semm. Semm had given Ashanti a peck on the cheek good-bye and slapped Cave on the back good-naturedly. Cave had said farewell to his 'friends' and his first padawan, who gave Mace a laughing wink. Ashanti's tail hadn't let up its hold on Qui-Gon's wrist since they left the Rayjac's. Qui-Gon was just relieved she'd left him enough dignity to walk out without her hold. Her tail had latched on in the transport she and Cave had used to get to Rayjacs and hadn't let go.

Qui-Gon was fuming, Mace was dazed and the two masters were chatting casually about the evenings entertainments. Inside the Temple's housing area for knights, Ashanti and Cave bid each other farewell and parted, leaving their padawans to trail behind their master dejectedly.

"So," Ashanti said when they entered her quarters, "have fun?"

Qui-Gon looked at her, trying to gauge her mood. She was mercurial and unpredictable. He couldn't tell if she was just going to tease him unmercifully, give him a lecture or box his ears.

"Get it over with, please," he said forlornly. Ashanti turned to look at him in surprise. "Whatever you're gonna do, just do it."

"I beg your pardon?" She frowned.

"Aren't I in trouble?"

She gave him a serious look. "Yes, but not for what you think, Qui-Gon."

Qui-Gon blinked in confusion. "I don't understand."

"I know you don't," Ashanti told with some asperity, "but you will." She leaned against the doorframe of her bedchamber. "You lied to me."

He flinched. So that was where she going to start. "I-"

"Did you ever consider asking permission to go out? I would have granted it and given you a few credits to blow, you know." Qui-Gon gaped at her and she shrugged. "We aren't monks, Qui-Gon, you know that. We can have families and lives and such. We just serve in an important way the Republic to which we are avowed to serve. It's a hard life, true, but we are allowed rewards and breaks. We can have some fun, let our hair down and the like."

"But you never go out!" Qui-Gon pointed out heatedly. "You're always here, watching me like I'm some nine year old that needs to be watched constantly!"

Ashanti regarded him. "Am I that bad?" He nodded vigorously. "Then I apologize. I did not realize I was so stifling."

Qui-Gon was taken aback. Ashanti was always ready to admit her mistakes, but getting an apology out of her was difficult. "That's okay. I know you're protective of me and all."

She chuckled. "No, I still see you as the baby I brought to the Temple, and the twelve year old boy who was determined to prove to me that he could be my padawan no matter what. I don't see you as the man you've become, Qui-Gon, but obviously I do now." She gestured to his fashionable attire. "You look pretty plen in those."

He groaned. "Am I the only one who didn't know that word?"

"What word?"

"Plen."

Ashanti had the grace to look embarrassed. "No. I learned it tonight from Semm. He told me I looked plen. I was going to strangle him until he assured me that he had given me a compliment."

"Who is that guy, anyway?" demanded Qui-Gon. "I didn't like the way he hung on you. It was...not right."

Ashanti was amused. "Not right that he was hanging on me, or that I wasn't telling him to stop?" Qui-Gon opened his mouth and then shut it. "Semm was traveling to Coruscant and I was his escort about fifteen years ago. We've dated off and on, but nothing serious, on my part at least. He respects that, so it's a casual thing. Nothing to get steamed up about. I'd worry about Gemma if I were you."

Qui-Gon looked startled. "Why?"

Ashanti gave him a feral grin, one that heralded trouble. "Because she was in the band playing tonight."

Qui-Gon blanched and closed his eyes. "Oh no."

"Oh yes. No matter how open you two are, I don't think she appreciated it that rather heated dance method you used with the human girl." Ashanti looked thoughtful. "You don't dance with her like that, do you?" Qui-Gon's face turned even paler. "I didn't think so. There is no punishment I can give you that will measure up to the scolding you're going to get from her, so I'll leave it at that."

Qui-Gon's head dropped into his hands in mortification and the sense of deep trouble he was in up to his neck. "I'm so dead," he moaned.

"No, but you'll be surprised what you can live through!" Ashanti told him cheerfully from her bedchamber where she had vanished. She came out in her pajamas, still looking fetching to Qui-Gon's thinking. She sensed his unease at her attire and paused. "What's wrong?"

"You're pretty." He looked away, the words said low.

"This is a bad thing?" Ashanti was perplexed. She always thought she was passable herself.

"I never thought of you that way, Ashanti," Qui-Gon confessed. "Tonight you looked spectacular and I..." His voice trailed off.

"And you were jealous of another man in my life," Ashanti finished for him. He nodded, still not looking at her. "I'm the mother figure in your life. You felt protective of me. That's understandable and I'm not bothered by it."

"I was stunned. You never look like that. Our tunics hide your, um, assets." Qui-Gon blushed red and Ashanti roared with laughter, her small four foot frame collapsing on the floor from the force of her surprise and mirth.

Once she'd regained control she rolled over to look at her pouting cohort. "I'm flattered you were jealous, Qui-Gon, but isn't that like incest or something? I mean, my people have no taboos of such things, but yours does. I'm also glad I'm found attractive. It's nice to know sometimes. You didn't look half bad yourself." Qui-Gon gave a faint smile. "Now then, if I were you, I'd go to my quarters, get a good night sleep, wake up early and find someplace to hide. Gemma will not be happy."

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. Gemma would be grumpy, no doubt, but he'd seen her locked in a passionate embrace with her musician boyfriend, so he didn't think there would be the stink Ashanti thought there would be.

He got up, bowed to her and turned to the door. Hand on the door handle (Ashanti preferred old fashioned to modern design), he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. Ashanti's tail, still looped in amusement was the only sign that she was still awake. Her body was totally still, eyes shut.

He stretched out his mind and linked with hers, their bond once again reinstated. _I'm sorry I lied to you, Ashanti. I was just afraid you'd say no. I didn't want to be cooped up under your watchful gaze all the time._

The only sign that Ashanti heard him in her mind was her tail's loop unraveled and drooped to the floor. _I wanted to celebrate my birthday besides with meditation and ceremony. I wanted something..._

_Unique._ She finished for him when he floundered. He watched her eyes open and she was suddenly on her feet. "Come." She disappeared into her room. He followed.

A brown package was being held out to him. "I was going to give this to you on your twenty-first year, but now is as good a time as any."

Qui-Gon looked at her bemusedly and ripped the package open. There, carefully folded, was a brown cloak. The material was soft and heavy. He shook it out and discovered the lining was insulated. "It's made to maintain body temperature, so that no matter where you are, cold or hot, you will maintain your body's normal heat."

"How? Where did you get this?" Qui-Gon pulled his arms through, arms that were once gangly but now were building muscle. It was still large on the arms and shoulders, but another year would solve that problem, he knew. Pockets on the sides were large enough for his big hands to slip into and the comfort from the temperature maintenance was soothing.

"I bought it last mission at that bazaar we visited." Ashanti sat down in a chair by her bed. "I took a guess on your size, but it looks like I did pretty good."

He rubbed his cheek again the material of the hood. "It's wonderful, Ashanti. I'll take good care of it, I promise."

Ashanti gave him wry grin. "It should last you forever with that tough material. We'll have to be careful that you don't get it shot up or torn somehow." She winked at him.

He knelt at her feet reverently. "Thank you, Master." She hated being called master but this one time he knew she'd understand. He knelt at her feet to pledge loyalty and respect.

She tugged gently on his braid and he looked at her, blue eyes meeting green-blue. He felt her love for him through their bond and was comforted by it. "My people, Qui-Gon, are fiercely loyal to one another. Before the Republic, we had no word for war, no concept of such struggles against one another. That loyal mindset is bred into me. No matter what you do, you have my undying loyalty. You can do wrong, and you will, as will I, but I will stand behind you one hundred percent. This is not your way and I understand. You disapprove of my ways at times and that is to be commended. It means you think on your own and do not follow blindly someone in authority above you. You follow your heart, as I do, and that is all that I expect of you."

"I disappointed you this evening," Qui-Gon reminded her.

"Yes, you did, a little, but I understand. I can't say much for I'm guilty of being that way as well. You learned by example I'm afraid. Just remember, you can ask me anything, tell me anything and I will not judge or condemn you. I will give you all that I can and look for ways to give you more. To me, Qui-Gon, you are more than an apprentice. You are my son, my best friend's child given to me for safekeeping and a home. Family, Qui-Gon, is the strongest bond there is. We Jedi are a family, and those outside rarely are allowed in, and family can excuse much."

Qui-Gon thought about her words. "I shall meditate on this," he announced. Ashanti shook her head in wonder. The boy meditated too much, in her unasked for opinion. "I shall also kiss you good-night and hope that Mace isn't dead."

Ashanti's eyes lit up and her mischievous demeanor returned, as Qui-Gon knew it would. "I doubt it," she said casually. "He's probably getting instruction on how to sneak out of the Temple better and how to pick up better looking dates. That Twi'lek was okay, but Mace could have done much better."

Qui-Gon's mouth dropped open and Ashanti gave a snicker. "I told you I was guilty of what you had done. Cave was the one who snuck me out without Yoda knowing, a truly awesome feat, let me assure you. That green troll knows everything."

"Did you get caught?" Qui-Gon clamoured for more information, sensing a story to share with Mace tomorrow.

"Yoda levitated me right out of the most raunchiest bar on Coruscant." Ashanti gave him a sideways look as she propelled him out of her room and toward the exit. "I might add I wasn't entirely clothed. You lucked out, Padawan."

Qui-Gon began to laugh and laughed all the way back to his quarters. He just couldn't imagine...

Yes he could.


End file.
